The present invention relates generally to the attachment of optical elements to the camera system of an electronic device. In particular, the present invention is directed to a novel and improved optical adapter device, which can magnetically connect an optical element or optical assembly to an electronic device having a camera and has a structure that provides for significant advantages over other options of optical adapters currently available.
Due to the prevalence of electronic devices with cameras, such as cellular phones or tablet computers, these electronic devices are being used with increasing frequency as the primary camera for photography uses. As a result, there is a growing need to customize and functionalize the camera with additional optical elements or optical assemblies like in a conventional DSLR camera. There had been several methods for attaching lenses or filters to traditional DSLR cameras (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,896,463, 5,208,624) which have magnetic elements or features but these utilize the threaded portion of a DSLR camera or of the lens assembly for mounting the base element. For electronic devices such as cellular phones or tablet computers, such a threaded element or standardized lens mount as in DSLR cameras is not available. Therefore, there have been a variety of attachment means for connecting optical components to these electronic devices, but with notable drawbacks.
The prior art for other electronic devices with a camera is focused primarily on mechanical methods for the attachment of optical element or assembly to the main body of the electronic device. First, the most basic and commonly utilized solution is to create a custom case with one or more optical components. However, by utilizing a specific optical adapter case, the user is restricted to a very specialized case which may not suit their other requirements for protection, aesthetics and portability. As a result, the usage and the market for these highly specialized cases are minimal compared to a separate accessory item. The remaining mechanical methods require physical clamping of the adapter to or around the body of the electronic device, and as a result cover and/or touch some portion of the front surface of the electronic device. Since the display screen of these electronic devices normally occupies most of the front surface, these mechanical methods may cover a portion of the display screen thereby obstructing view of the camera's image (U.S. Pat. No. 8,385,004), and their physical contact with display screen risks causing damage. Another instance of mechanical adapter prior art is an adapter that uses a fixed clamping method (U.S. Pat. No. 8,279,544 B1). This had an additional disadvantage since it assumes a specific thickness of the device, which may not be identical if for example, the user is using a screen protector on their electronic device. In this common situation, the user would have to remove their screen protector each time to use such as fixed clamp style lens adapter, which is very inconvenient and may even damage the screen protector. Therefore, a solely mechanical method is not advantageous for connecting an optical component to an electronic device having a camera.
In regards to magnetic methods for an optical adaptor, there are several prior art examples of using a magnetic ring with a corresponding magnetic ring in the adapter. However, these methods require attachment of the base magnetic ring to the electronic device, which is typically accomplished by a bonding element such as glue or tape, which has the potential to leave residue on the electronic device. Most importantly, these prior art magnetic adaptors have no alignment means. The user has to attempt to physically align the magnetic element properly when bonding to the electronic device, so that the ring is concentric with the camera opening. If not properly aligned on the first try, the user may need to attempt to align several more times, which is not only frustrating but also may affect the strength of the bonding agent. The user may also not want to leave the magnetic ring permanently attached to their electronic device, thereby potentially requiring new bonding agent or magnetic rings each use and subsequently, more alignment steps. In summary, these magnetic prior art references require the user to align the lens assembly to the camera, which is time consuming and frustrating, and also risk leaving residue on the electronic device.
The invention presented herein demonstrates a lens adaptor adapter that provides a means to attach a lens to an electronic device, without requiring mechanical clamping that may block or damage the front surface of the electronic device, and without requiring user alignment steps or a bonding agent to attach the adapter to the electronic device.